Retro Thing

Pedal Cars For Adults

The velomobile might be the perfect choice if your New Year's resolution involves getting fitter, but you can't tolerate the typical speed of bicycles.

Velomobiles are essentially recumbent trikes encased in composite bodies — sexy in the case of the Trisled Avatar and zoom-zoom cute in the Velomobiel Quest. Despite some relatively high-tech materials, they can trace their lineage to the Velocar, an early 20th century French vehicle.

Some of the finer modern examples bring to mind a 1950s vision of the future — or at least fake visions of it. (I could totally see one of these painted like a tin toy rocket parading around town.) Though they might be mistaken for something you might see at the Bonneville Salt Flats, they actually can take a ton of cargo and require minimal energy to go twice as fast as a well-tuned road bike.

Josef Janning recently wrote about his experiences in a velomobile at Commute By Bike. He put it thusly: "The velomobile … allowed me to ride faster than on any of my other bikes, in more comfort, with better weather protection through all seasons, better luggage capacity, and on top of all this, with the most sensational feeling I have ever experienced on wheels."

Not bad for an adult-size pedal car.

Retrovelo: One of a Kind Classic Bikes From Germany

Retrovelo is a German bicycle manufacturer based in Leipzig. They produce an enticing mix of classic and modern city bikes that combine understated good looks with immense practicality.

Their Classic lineup consists of 3-speed and 7/8-speed models for both men and women. They feature 20.5" inch or 22.5" frames, Shimano Nexus hubs and Busch & Müller Lumotech retro chromed head lights and LED chromed tail lights. The saddles are Brooks leather, and a centre stand is standard equipment, along with stainless steel fenders and an optional color-matched carrying rack.

The company's Modern series has a certain timeless look, too. Models in this range feature larger frames and anywhere from single to 14-speed shifters. Perversely, these are city bikes that I'd be afraid to park on the streets of most North American cities. All Retrovelo bikes are available in your choice of 12 stock colors, and custom paint is available if you have the urge to make a bold and unique statement.

There. This post nicely encapsulates my New Year's dream of eating less, excercising more and considering the plight of starving Arctic Lemurs whose very existence is threatened by my addiction to shiny plastic things that beep and flash.

Retrovelo: We manufacture favorite bicycles

Raleigh's Classic BMX Reissue

I know I'm late to the party, but the Raleigh Super Tuff Burner is worth a quick mention. This £269.99 BMX reissue reminds me of some of the best and worst moments of the 1980s. The remake came out several years ago and is already hard to find (perhaps a re-reissue is in order?), but it's impressive to see a company bow to public demand and return to an iconic design -- if only for a limited time.

The Super Tuff Burner features 14" mag wheels, a chromoly steel frame, single speed gearset, old school caliper brakes and classic BMX stem, bars and saddle. Sadly, it won't bring back your youth.

Raleigh Super Tuff Burner [thanks, David W.]

A Very Curious Vespa

Tony Rabassa writes, "Take a look at this link that I stumbled on. This seems like a labor of love from a hell of a craftsman."

Yes, indeed. You're admiring the world's first Vespa Woody. This beautiful machine was crafted in Portugal by Carlos Alberto, who christened it Daniela in honor of his daughter. His website captures the intricate build process in painstaking detail -- it's unnerving to see the gracious curves of a Vespa frame carved from precious little more than laminated hardwood. For once, I am speechless. Enjoy it while it lasts.

Visit Carpintaria Carlos Alberto for more pics.

Your Own Space Battleship, Training Wheels Included

The Japanese anime series "Space Battleship Yamato" — known in the U.S. as "Star Blazers" — never quite spawned the absurd merchandising that "Star Wars" did in the States. I don't remember seeing many toys in the early 1980s, when I regularly watched "Star Blazers" on TV, wishing every episode would include the crew firing the ship's wave motion gun. 

Even today, there's not that much Yamato merch out there, aside from models and figurines. (I have an unassembled Yamato model in its box in my basement, mocking me.) I was mildly surprised, for example, that I couldn't easily find anyone producing a t-shirt of the show's arrow uniform, the kind that an astronaut recently wore into space. 

Thirty years ago, however, some lucky Japanese kids could have purchased a bicycle version of the Yamato. Made by Bridgestone, the bike came with a control panel on the handlebars, a reticle on the windshield, various cool graphics, a rear reflector styled like a rocket engine and, best of all, a wave motion gun headlamp activated with the press of a button. Priced at the time around $200, it's hard to imagine what a good condition version would go for these days on eBay.

With a new live-action movie in the works, maybe we can look forward to a re-release of the bike. A man can dream.

Yamato Bicycle at starblazers.com
"Star Blazers" on iTunes

The Enduring 3-Speed

[Here's a post by long-time reader Jonathan Poet...]

I spent some time recently tuning up my wife's bike. It's a 40-year-old Hercules roadster that was built after Raleigh took over the company. It's got all the classic Raleigh features: a 3-speed Sturmey-Archer hub, a saddle with honest-to-goodness springs, sensibly-mounted fenders and "North Road" handlebars.

The bike is holding up remarkably well. It still had its original tires and one of its original tubes, which had a Schrader valve that looked a little different than modern ones. (Rather than a black rubber stem with threads at the tip, this one had threads the whole length of the valve stem and a little knurled nut that screwed down over them to hold the stem to the rim.) I decided to swap out the tires for new ones, replace the brake pads and bring the moving parts back to life.

There are many good resources for help in maintaining bikes, but for old English 3-speeds like this, the best place to start is the massive site assembled by the late Sheldon Brown. It was there that I learned that my local bike shop inadvertently gave me the wrong size tires. ("Schwinn" 26 x 1 3/8 tires, it turns out, are different than "Raleigh" 26 x 1 3/8 tires.)

The thing I found most impressive about the project was how simple the bike is to maintain. The brakes and hub are adjusted with various nuts and screws, not unlike modern bikes. But unlike modern bikes, all the moving parts are made to be lubricated with oil, from the chain to the trigger-style gear shifter to the brake levers. The hub even has a little cap that allows you to lubricate it with — you guessed it — oil.

The bike is now — if not good as new — at least serviceable. If it were my daily commuter, I would probably make some other upgrades, like swapping out the pedals, handlebar grips and maybe the tired saddle. As a weekend rider, though, it will be dandy.

Raleigh still makes classic-looking roadsters. These days they have Shimano's version of the 3-speed internal-gear hub. Sturmey-Archer, at one time synonymous with Raleigh, is chugging along and still makes the AW hub that dates to 1936. The still-made-in-England Pashley uses Sturmey-Archer hubs on their classic bikes. So does Brompton on some models. -- Jon Poet

Sturmey Archer Heritage site

A Bicycle Built For One And A Half

I've long been fascinated by motorcycle sidecars, but this is the first I've seen mounted to a bicycle. Steve Bodiley crafted the frame from a piece of bent 25mm strip steel with a removable wheel. The top and bottom of the body were made from 12mm plywood and a 4mm ply skin was used to create the sleek curved sides. A flap on the back opens to reveal a small storage area behind the passenger seat.

Considerable thought went into the suspension. The frame was mounted to the bicycle with a horizontal pivot, and springs and rubber standoffs help to cushion the young passenger's ride. All in all, this is a brilliant DIY build that's bound to attract attention wherever it goes.

Sadly, it's the sort of thing that will never find its way into mass production because of the possibility that a young passenger will accidentally stuff a hand into the rear spokes.

Steve's Bicycle Sidecar Build [via Make]

Ural's New 2WD Patrol T Motorcycle

Ural motorcycles are direct descendants of the venerable BMW R71. Prior to WWII, the Germans gave blueprints and casting molds for the design to the Russians, who promptly turned around and manufactured thousands of them for the Red Army. The Irbit Motorcycles Works has been producing updated versions ever since.

The new 2WD Ural Patrol T is a sport utility motorcycle with the world’s only on-demand 2WD sidecar drive shaft that would put a Lada Niva to shame. It even features a reverse gear to back out of tough spots in a hurry. The bike features a 749cc air-cooled 4-cycle opposed twin cylinder engine, Herzog gears, Brembo brakes and Domino controls. There's even a storage compartment in the sidecar for spare ammunition gear and tools.

Every Ural bike is still hand-assembled in Irbit, Russia and is simple to maintain. As the company proudly declares, there's nothing that can't be fixed with a hammer and sickle. Available for $12,399 at a sport utility motorcycle dealership near you.

Ural Patrol T Sport Utility Motorcycle

SYM Classic 150 Emulates An Early Seventies Honda

The SYM Classic 150 is a modern motorcycle styled like a vintage Honda CB125S. That's not particularly surprising, since San Yang Motorcycle (SYM) of Taiwan used to manufacture motorcycles for Honda. They're now an independent company with 2,400 employees that sells about 1 million scooters, motorcycles and automobiles each year.

The Classic 150 is powered by a 149.4 cc 4-stroke air cooled carbureted motor. Despite having only 12.5 hp on tap, it's capable of hitting more than 75 mph and gets as much as 118 mpg at more moderate speeds. The bike has a light curb weight of 266.2 lbs and features a front disc brake to handle heavy stopping with ease, along with a rear-mounted drum.

Assuming that SYM doesn't attempt to cut corners on quality, the $2995 Classic 150 looks like a great beginner and urban bike.

The 2010 SYM Classic 150 [thanks, Stephen!]

British Motorcycle Safety - 1960s Style

Tom, the calm and competent hero of this classic 1960s motorcycle safety film, owns the coolest riding jacket I've ever seen. Sadly, Tom's friend isn't nearly so well dressed. [via Cycle Canada]

New $900 Honda Gets 165 mpg

Honda India recently announced the CB Twister. It's manufactured in India and carries an estimated base price of 42,000 Rupees ($900) for the old school kick-start version. Expect to pay about $300 more for an upscale model with electric starter. The Twister is powered by a 109cc air cooled 4-stroke engine that puts out 9 HP (at 9000 rpm) through a 4-speed transmission. You get CDI electronic ignition and halogen headlamps, and the bike weighs a mere 108 kg (238 lbs).

The Twister Microsite claims fuel economy of 70 km/L -- about 165 mpg. Assuming that isn't a typo, one has to wonder why governments in the west are so hung up on promoting expensive hybrid cars as "the future." Surely it would make more sense to get hundreds of thousands of these bikes onto North American and European roads. I'm not suggesting it as a replacement for an Interstate cruiser, but the Twister would make a great urban runabout.

The same "less is more" approach could easily be applied to North American cars, too. Instead of wasting billions designing large and complicated hybrids that sill require fossil fuel, manufacturers could focus on lightweight conventional gasoline or diesel subcompacts that emphasize simplicity, light weight and efficiency over cushy comfort and ridiculously complicated drivetrains.

They could use lightweight aluminum frames, radical body streamlining and small and efficient diesel engines with idle-shutoff to boost efficiency to hybrid levels. Don't think it's possible? Well, back yard experimenters have already squeezed 64 mpg from an old Geo Metro. While we're at it, throw away expensive extras such as power windows, keyless entry, mahogany dash inlays and headrest-mounted entertainment systems. They just add unnecessary weight and complexity.

With a bit of clever thinking, traditional subcompacts could be reborn as surprisingly eco-friendly microcars. Of course, tiny and cheap vehicles don't carry the same profit margin as trendy hybrids, so don't expect GM, Ford or Chrysler to jump on the microcar bandwagon in the USA anytime soon. That's a pity, because Japanese manufacturers are already there.

Meanwhile, Honda hopes to sell as many as 250,000 Twister motorcycles annually. They hit showrooms across India in February, 2010. It sure would be nice to see something similar over here, even at twice the price.

Honda Twister - Wake up to a dream
Toyota iQ - Microcar for the masses

VeloSolex - Return Of An Iconic French Design

The VeloSolex powered bicycle was introduced in 1946. By the time the iconic French design ceased production in 1988, over 8 million had been sold. It lived on for almost two decades as a licensed design produced in China and Hungary. Production returned to France in 2005, and the S4800 has been marketed by VeloSolex America in North Bergen, NJ. for several years.

The bike is the essence of simplicity - a 49cc two stroke engine sits over the front wheel, putting out a whopping 0.80 bhp at 2200 rpm. As you might guess, it's economical - the 1.4 L tank gives you a range of 60 miles, although you'll have to pedal to get the machine up steeper hills. The maximum speed is pre-set to 20 mph, so don't expect to break any land speed records.

Accessories include a $100 catalytic converter to reduce the cloud of oil-infused 2-stroke exhaust, a $25 horn, saddle bags ($45 each) and a $55 digital speedometer. Best of all, custom colors are available for only $100 extra, so owning a blinding safety orange S4800 is a distinct possibility... if you dare.

If the thought of a 2-stroke motor running on dinosaur grease sends you into a fit of envirorage, check out the futuristic e-Solex. This clever electric update is available from Solex in France with a dramatic redesign by Pininfarina. A rear-mounted 400W hub motor is capable of propelling the bike at up to 20 mph with a range of approximately 25 miles, and they thoughtfully retained the pedals in case you feel like working up an environmentally friendly sweat.

Visit VeloSolex America

The Art Deco Motorcycle That Time Forgot

The sheer beauty of the BMW R7 prototype takes my breath away. A single copy was crafted in 1934 by design engineer Alfred Böning. His vision was a departure from the "bicycle with motor" design still prevalent in the 1930s. The R7 incorporated sweeping enclosed bodywork, a pressed steel frame, valanced mudguards and then-innovative telescopic front forks.

The R7's beauty was more than skin deep, however. The transmission featured an 'H' pattern hand shifter and the 800c Boxer engine crafted by Leonhard Ischinger was decades ahead of its time. The revolutionary engine includes a forged, single piece crankshaft. The cylinder housing is a monoblock with a hemispherical combustion chamber, eliminating the need for a troublesome head gasket and the camshaft is positioned below the crank (allowing more convenient plug placement).

Alas, the R7 was deemed too extravagant and expensive to produce in the harsh economic and political climate of the mid-1930s. The roadworthy prototype was stripped of useful parts, crated and largely forgotten until 2005. When the box was finally opened, the R7 was found to be 70% complete but in disastrous condition. Many components were severely rusted and a long-forgotten battery had ruptured and corroded the machine even further.

Luckily, the original design drawings were located in the BMW Archives and BMW Classic undertook a comprehensive restoration. A team of specialists rebuilt the frame, bodywork, transmission and one-of-a-kind motor. By the end of 2008, the machine looked like it must have when Alfred Böning first rolled it out of his Munich workshop. It performed flawlessly on its first road test in over 70 years and, hopefully, will be displayed around the world in years to come. [thanks, Karen!]

Add a Cargo Deck to Your Bike

The FreeRadical bolts to the rear of your current bicycle and lets you to carry up to 200 lbs of cargo, equipment or passengers. It extends the frame 17 inches, weighs a mere 5 lbs and fits most 26" diamond frame bikes. On sale until the end of the month for $399, direct from XtraCycle.

Maker Faire FreeRadical Deal [via Make]

Ural Unveils More Affordable Sidecar Motorcycle

Madina at Ural-IMZ just gave us a shout about the new Ural-T. They've managed to shave the price of their famous BMW R71-inspired machine down to a very reasonable $9,999. 

Truth be told, I like the spartan look of the basic black Ural-T better than its pricier siblings. The machine shares the same mechanical underpinnings as the rest of the Ural lineup, but does away with niceties such as the sidecar windscreen and spare tire. 

Ural-T Sidecar Motorcycle

related:
Classic Retro Thing: Russian Motorcycles
Ride A Vintage People's Liberation Army Motorcycle